Drawbar



G. N A. M., AND W. H. SIMPSON.

' DRAWBAR. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1920.

1 ,42 1 O32 Patented June 27 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Ararat .sries.

GEORGE n. SIMPSON, ARTHUR ivi. srr/rrsoN, m WALTER n. SIMPSON, orCHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

DRAWIBAR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pat tedJ ne 27 1922 Application filedApril 2, 1920. Serial No. 370,668.

To all whom it may 00 merit:

Be it known that we, GEORGE N. SIMrsoN, ARTHUR M. SIMPSON, and Human H.SIMP- soN, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and the State of Illinois, have invented new and use fulImprovements in Drawbars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in drawbars and more especiallyto a drawbar of the swivel type. i

In the use of rotary dumps, tilting dumps, and other appliances whereone or more cars in a trainare dumped or tilted without uncoupling themfrom the rest of thecars in the train, it is necessary to provide aswivel drawbar to permit the necessary rotation of the cars being dumpedwithout injuring the couplings. Swivel drawbars of various types havebeen made and used heretofore. In the use of such drawbars difficultyhas been encountered in providing means to cause the drawbars themselvesto tend to assume a normal horizontal position when no rotation istaking place. It is desirable that there be this tendency so that whenthe cars are in their normal upright position, the drawbars will lie intheir normal horizontal position to permit coupling and uncoupling.Heretofore swivel drawbars have been made with locks to hold them in ahorizontal position. In the use of such drawbars it is necessary todisengage the lock manually or by other means to permit rotation. If thereleasing means should fail to work, serious damage would result when anattempt is made to rotate one of the cars coupled to another carstanding on a stationary track.

Te have designed a swivel drawbar which is always freely rotatable, andwhich always tends to assume a normal horizontal position when the carto which it is attached is not actually being rotated.

In general, we have accomplished the features of our invention byproviding a drawbar with its head below the center or axis of thedrawbar shank so that if the drawbar head is turned, the center ofgravity is raised. In addition, the drawbar shank is elliptical in crosssection so that any turning of the drawbar head from its normalhorizontal position will raise the center of gravity of the head agreater distance than if the drawbar shank were circular in crosssection.

The features above mentioned and others of our invent-ion will appearmore clearly as we proceed with our specification.

In that formof device embodying our invention, shown in the accompanyingdrawingrs:

igure 1 is a top plan view of our improved drawbar.

Figure 2 is a'vertical sectional view on the line 2,2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 3, 3 of Fig 1.

F lgure 1 is avertical sectional view on the lme 4, 4 of Fig. 8. I

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 5, 5 of Fig. 3. Asshown in said drawings, A indicates, in general, the drawbar head and Bthe shank. C indicates, in general, a housing or support for the shankB.

The head A is'bifurcated as shown in Fig.

3, providing a wide flat upper prong 1 and wide flat lower prong 2. Avertical cylindrical hole 3 is provided through the two prongs 1 and 2for the purpose of accommodating-a pin (not shown) adapted to attach thehead A to a complementary member on another car (not shown) As shown inFigures 1 and 2 the-drawbar head A is in its normal horizontal, orupright position. It is one of the objects of the present invention toprovide means for causing the drawbar head totend at all times to assumethis position; since this position is necessary to permit coupling anduncoupling.

The shank B at its-extreme inner end is circular in cross section (seeFig. 4). As it approaches the drawbar head A it becomes more and moreelliptical in cross section, with the longer axis horizontal (see Fig.2).

The'shank B is hollowed. out as indicated by 5, the hollow portion beingmade smaller near the end of the shank to provide the shoulder 7 Thefollowing means are provided for supporting the drawbar shank B. 8, 8indicates the ends of two channel irons extending from the car (notshown). Supported between the two channel irons 8 by means of the bolts10, .10 is the'casting or housing C with its outer end provided with ahole 15. The hole 15 at its inner end 16' is circular in cross sectionand slightly larger than the inner end of the shank B. As the hole 15approaches the outer end of the housing C it is enlarged and made ovalin cross section as shown in Fig. 2, with its large curve below and itssmall curve above. The hole 15 and the housing C are provided for thepurpose of accommodating the shank B, the enlargement and oval. shape atits outer end being provided for the purpose of permitting rotation ofthe elliptical shaped shank.

It will be noted that the lower prong 2 of the drawbar head A is agreater distance below the axis of rotation of the shank B than theupper prong 1 of the head A is above such axis of rotation. It isobvious from this construction that the center of gravity of the drawbarhead is below the axis of rotation of the drawbar shank, and that if thedrawbar head is turned the center of gravity will be raised. It will benoted also from Fig. 2, that, due to the elliptical shape of the drawbarshank B, the center of gravity of the head, when the drawbar is turned,will be raised a greater distance than if the shank were round. This isdue to the fact that such rotation will cause the ellipse to be rolledup on its long axis.

The following means are provided for holding the drawbar shank B in thehole 15, for absorbing any shocks against the head A, and for permittingrotation of such head. A long bolt 17 with its head 18 in the hole 15 inthe shank B resting on the washer 1.9 which in turn lies on the shoulder7, extends entirely through the housing C and has keyed to its end bymeans of the key 20, a sleeve 21 with a flange 22 lying inside of arecess 23 provided in the housing C around the hole 15. Lying within therecess 23 is another sleeve 25 with a flange 27 at the forward end ofthe recess 23. Encircling the bolt 17 and the sleeve 25 is a spiralcompression spring 29 with one end bearing against the flange 27 and theother against the flange 22. The length and tension of the spiral springacts normally to hold the flange 27 against the forward end of therecess 23 and the flange 22 against the rear end of the recess 23 in thepositions shown in Fig. 3. The sleeve 25 is of proper length to permitthe flange 27 to be pushed backward by the shank B to compress thespring 29 when suflicient pressure is borne against the drawbar head. Bymeans of this construction any shock or bump against the drawbar head Atending to force it inwardly will be absorbed by such compression of thespring. In a similar manner a quick jerk or pull on the drawbar head Awill be absorbed by the flange 22 moving outwardly and compressing thespring 29.

e claim:

1. In combination with a car adapted to be dumped by rotation withoutuncoupling it from adjoining cars in a train, means on the car forcoupling it to an adjoining car, said means comprising a draw-barsupport on the car, and a draw-bar rotatably mounted in the support, theshank of said drawbar where supported in the support being substantiallyelliptical in cross section.

2. In combination with a car adapted to be dumped by rotation withoutuncoupling it from adjoining cars in a train, means on the car forcoupling it to an adjoining car, said means comprising a draw-barsupport on the car, and a draw-bar rotatably mounted in the support,said draw-bar having its shank where supported in the supportsubstantially elliptical in cross section and having a coupling head onits end, the center of gravity of said head lying below the axis ofrotation of the shank.

3. In a device of the character described, a draw-bar support, and adraw-bar swivelly mounted in the support, the shank of said draw-barwhere supported in the support being substantially elliptical in crosssection.

1. In a device of the character described, a drawbar support, and adraw-bar rotatably mounted in the support, said draw-bar having itsshank where supported in the support substantially elliptical in crosssection and having a coupling head on its end, the center of gravity ofsaid head lying below the axis of rotation of the shank.

5. In a device of the character described, a draw-bar support, and adraw-bar rotatably mounted in the support in such a manner that rotationof the draw-bar from its normal position will raise the center ofgravity thereof and also raise the axis of rotation.

6. In a device of the character described, a draw-bar support, and adraw-bar rotatably mounted in the support in such a manner that rotationof the draw-bar will raise the axis of rotation thereof.

7. In a device of the character described, a draw-bar support, and adraw-bar rotatably mounted in the support in such a manner that contactbetween the drawbar and the support upon rotation of the drawbar thereinwill raise the center of gravity of the draw-bar.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 23d dayof March,

GEORGE N. SIMPSON. ARTHUR M. SIMPSON. WALTER H. SIMPSON.

